Page 30 of Cruel Mate

“No, I am not alright!” Layla snapped again, pinching herself discreetly on the leg. It hurt and she blinked, opening her eyes to find he was still looking at her with concern. She wasn’t daydreaming.

Instinctively, she slammed her palms into his chest to shove him away. “You don’t get to be concerned about me. Not after everything you’ve put me through!”

Zander barely stumbled backwards, almost immovable, though he did gape at her with an incredulous expression.

“What I have put you through?” he stared at her. “What about what you have put me through?”

Layla bit the inside of her lip. “I didn’t ask you to come to my rescue.”

“Like I said before, you’d be dead if I hadn’t,” Zander said, cocking his brow. She hated it when he looked at her like that. It was an arrogant yet handsome expression that did all kinds of things to her insides—things she struggled to ignore.

“Don’t look at me like that, Zander Mallox!” she hissed. “Fuck! I hate it when you look at me like that!”

“Like what?” Zander asked, closing the distance between them again as he intensified the look. There was a challenging glint in his eye that made her shiver.

She slammed her palms into his chest again, but this time he appeared prepared. He grabbed her hands and pinned them to him, locking her forearms into place.

“Don’t you know better than to lay hands on your beta?” he growled at her. His gaze trailed from her eyes down to her lips and lingered there, making Layla’s heart race.

He wouldn’t dare! She thought, almost disappointed when he didn’t kiss her.

She wanted to pinch herself again to be sure she hadn’t fallen into a daydream, but her hands were stuck fast in his grip.

Instead, she bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted just a little blood. This was no daydream, she was sure of that, and it only made her heartbeat even more erratic.

“What are you going to do about it?” she growled through gritted teeth.

That’s when the unspeakable happened.

His hands released hers only seconds before he gripped hold of her face and planted his lips upon hers.

Melting into him, into the kiss, her arms dropped to her sides just long enough for her to pinch herself again.

Still, she wasn’t dreaming or daydreaming. She was very much wide awake, and as Zander’s tongue possessively slipped into her mouth, she lost herself to his kiss, realizing her anger was gone, but her frustration remained. She wanted him. She needed him. And she would be damned if she didn’t have him.

Chapter 11 - Zander

Zander tried to stop, but damn, she tasted so good. The way her tongue caressed his, how her body curved against his as he held her there by her cheeks was too inviting.

His hands slipped further around to the back of her head, his fingers gripping the roots of her strawberry blonde hair. He growled warningly against her lips when she gently bit his tongue, enticing him. His cock was harder than ever before.

He couldn’t help himself. He needed her. And the way she returned his growl said she needed him just as badly.

Her hands snaked up his chest and hooked around his neck, pulling him down to her.

Fuck! He was unable to resist. Pulling on her hair, he urged her down onto the soft bed of leaves that littered the forest floor.

Yanking her t-shirt and shorts off, he found her naked before him once more, slipping off his own shorts before either of them could have a change of heart.

He had come too far now. He couldn’t turn back as he knelt between her legs and lowered himself back down to her.

Gripping the roots of her hair again, he pulled her hair aggressively to expose her neck. Even as he entered her, he nibbled at the flesh of her throat between her neck and shoulder and felt her quivering beneath him.

She moaned deliciously as his rock-hard cock slipped inside her. She was warm and inviting. Her scent enveloped him, and as he thrust deep within her, he closed his eyes, wishing to commit to memory every second of being inside her.

His excitement and need took a hold of him, and he thrust harder, faster, harder still.

Sweat dripped from his brow and rolled down his back even as she clawed at his spine, screaming and gasping in his ear, “Zander!”

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